Insp[eye]red.

As I reflect this morning on the people I have met in the last few weeks overseas I am reminded of a post I began over a year ago, more of a continuous thought really, titled "Insp-eye-red." These thoughts began from the connection of simple, yet sacred moments of eye contact with those around me and as I sit here reflecting my time in Africa I am most fondly remembering most intimate moments of eye contact.

I remember these moments best because eyes are powerful.
They are honest, & profound.
They speak words that the tongue cannot express & the body does not give justice to.
"Eyes are the window to the soul" said an old English Proverb,
& I firmly agree with this picture and the idea that eyes lead beyond a body.

People's eyes move me.
Move me to a place of intimate emotion and of curiosity to know more,
to feel more.
Eyes speak big stories.
Stories of loss & struggle,
Of pain, and abandon, and hunger.
But those same eyes, they also speak of a love.
A deep joyful love that seeps out and infects those eyes who meet theirs.

Children,
with no shoes,
a torn dress 3 sizes too big,
but with eyes full of joy and a longing for you to smile when looking at them,
to accept them and embrace them with eyes which look back with a joy and love for who they are.
Because life doesn't need new shoes, and ice, and running showers daily.
Life is improved by luxuries, even the smallest ones yes.
but what life needs,
is love.
is joy.
is hope.
And that is where my prayers begin,
with the hope, and the joy, and the love of those eyes whom met my own.



Danielle Nicole.